Azula and The Clue: The Missing Link
by RoseWriter112
Summary: The people who put the social in Social Networking Site. Katara is being harassed online, and who better to solve the mystery than Azula, Zuko, Mai, Jet and Tylee? Book one in the "Put it together" triology.
1. Social Networking

**Azula **

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter one**

**Social Networking**

Azula dropped her school-bag on the marble floor of her father's mansion. Quickly, a woman dressed in an apron rushed over to pick it up.

"Glad to see you home from school," The maid said.

Azula walked by, with her brother Zuko close on her heels. "Of course you are." She said. Zuko acted as if he didn't even notice anything.

As she walked across the parlor, her Dolce & Gabbana metallic boots clicked on the floor. The maid rushed after her, joined by two others.

"Would you like some water?"

"A hot bath?"

"Your lunch is ready, ma'am,"

See, Azula didn't eat lunch at school. There was always a gourmet meal waiting for her at the mansion, so who would want to eat the usual cafeteria food?

She didn't even pretend to be interested. "I'm not hungry." She took the spiraled staircase up to her room, and her brother kept walking on, obviously heading to the theatre in their home.

Down the hall to the left was her room, with red walls and a black-and-white checkered floor. Her huge bed sat in the middle of the room with red satin blankets and a black canopy draping down over it. She walked to her black marble vanity and sat.

Impassively, Azula took her jet black hair out of its tight bun. She looked in the mirror as her hair cascaded down her shoulders. She pulled her blood red lips into a frown and looked to her nails, painted to match.

Suddenly, Linkin Park's 'numb' blasted from her cellphone. She looked at the caller Id.

INCOMING CALL: JET MADDOW

She tried to keep the smile from playing across her lips, but she failed, and she pressed the receive button to answer her boyfriend.

"What?" She asked spitefully, opposite of her expression.

"Hey babe," Jet said on the other end of the line.

"What is it?" She answered.

There was a pause. "I think we've got a case on our hands."

Azula's smile turned to a smirk. She was a part-time high-school student and a part-time detective. Her, Zuko, Mai, Tylee, and her boyfriend Jet, that is. They called themselves Azula and the Clue, because she was the head of everything.

"What kind of case?"

"Katara. You know her right?"

She nodded solemnly, but then realized he could see her nodding.

"Yeah, sure, whatever… what about her?"

"Well, she's been on Facebook for a while. And now all of a sudden, she's being bullied online."

"Cyber bullying." She observed.

"Yes," He answered. "But now things have gotten out of hand. She's being bullied at school."

"Katara's always been picked on."

"I know, but, worse." Jet sounded impatient.

There was a beep sound coming from Azula's phone.

"Hold on, I have another call." She said, pressing a few buttons to activate her three-way.

"Hey, Azula!"

"Hello, Tylee," Azula said. Jet chorused with her.

"Oh, hi, Jet. Did you already tell Azula about Katara?"

"Yes," Azula answered. "But I don't understand. Everyone on Facebook has an Id so people they know can identify them."

"Yeah, but, this person's identifies themselves as 'the missing link'…" Jet complied. "So no one could recognize the person."

"Alright," Azula sighed. "Jet, don't you have Katara on speed-dial?" The reason she knew this was because Katara was Jet's old girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'll call her. Are we rounding up The Clue?" He asked. The Clue, was the name of their group, only because they couldn't think of anything else, and had little faith that there was another name they would agree on.

"Yes," Tylee and Azula said.

"Okay. Meet at my place? In about thirty minutes?" Jet inquired.

"Deal," The two girls chorused again.

* * *

Jet's car was parked in front of Katara's house.

"Are we gonna go inside or what?" Mai finally asked.

Jet paused. "I say 'or what'…" He was still a little rough around the patch with Katara. Or say, she hated him for breaking up with her.

"Why did you bring it up if you didn't want to go into her house?" Zuko asked.

"Because when your sister is the last person to know about something, she always turns to me and says, 'Why didn't you tell me about this?' or 'Why am I the last person to know?' or…"

_Ding, dong._

Four heads turned. Azula was already on the porch ringing the door-bell. They all hurried to catch up to her.

Sokka answered the door. "Hello?" He overlooked the four, dark-looking teenagers plus Tylee without enthusiasm. "Oh, it's you guys."

_He's not too great-looking, either. _Mai observed the tall, lanky, boy with wild hair. She received a look from Zuko that said, _He looks like he just rolled out of bed at five pm…_

"We're here to see Katara." Azula said after silence.

Sokka looked to Azula, then to Jet, but gave in. "She's in her room. Up the stairs, last room on the left, but I can't say she'll be too glad to see you."

That didn't stop the gang. They went right past him and followed his direction, _up the stairs, last room on the left,_ and knocked on her door.

The door opened to a smiling Katara, but her smile quickly faded at the sight of Jet. "Oh, it's you," She repeated her brother. She stepped aside so they could enter the blue room.

"Expecting someone else?" Jet asked.

He watched her sigh. "No. Not many people still like me, but there's always the occasional visit from Toph or Suki."

Katara sat at the computer chair, Tylee, Mai, and Jet sat on the bed, Zuko sat in a bean-bag chair, and Azula stood, looking disgusted at everything in the room.

"We're here because of the bullying…" Mai tried to get to the reason of the gang's visit.

"Of course," Katara turned to the computer and typed '' into the search browser. "Why else would you come? We're not exactly friends…" She retreated to bring up several occasions where Azula had bullied her as she logged onto the website.

Tylee's eyes widened when she saw Katara's wall. Comments like the following:

KYLA NEWTON: Ur such a waste of space.

"Who is Kyla Newton?" She asked.

Katara looked as if she were about to cry. "I don't know. It's like everyone on Facebook is out to get me!"

Out of the tons of messages like Kyla's, Azula saw one that stood out from the rest.

LINK'S CHAIN: Katara, u r such a bitch. Why were u even born?

"Ouch," Mai murmured.

"Is that the person who started the harassment?" Azula asked.

"No, just one of his workers," Katara answered. "I probably know them, so they disguise themselves as Link's chain one, two, three, and so on. The actual Missing Link never writes on my wall, just sends me messages." So she displayed her inbox, full of hateful messages she never opened. She clicked on one from The Missing Link.

THE MISSING LINK: God has turned his bck on the ppl u no, and cursed thm w/ ur existence. It's a wondr u havn't been murdrd yet. They say tht miracls come slw, but who has the time to sit around and w8 4 u 2 die?

"Again," Mai said monotonously. "Ouch."

"When did this start?" Jet inquired.

Katara turned to him. "Only about a week ago,"

"It's amazing what you can do in a week!" Tylee said, gazing at all the posts Katara had received.

"Yeah," The victim agreed. "And it's like The Missing Link watches my every move, almost as if he were stalking me. Sometimes it makes me think that it was someone that was very close to me, but then I wonder who would do something like this!" She scrolled up and down her profile page, where all the mean and rude comments her sprawled across the screen like ants.

Suddenly, a red dialogue bubble popped into the lower left corner of the screen. Katara clicked on it, and there it said, 'The Missing Link has sent you a message'. "Here goes," She said, maneuvering back to her inbox.

THE MISSING LINK: I see where u r. U thnk ur little frenz can track me down? I thnk ur wsting ur time. U desrve 2 die, no 1 wnts u here. Ur horribl, and u wll die alone. Azula, Zuko, Mai, Jet, and Tylee wont b able 2 hlp u! U NEED 2 LRN THT NOBODY LIKES U! Go jmp in a lake.

Tylee shuddered. "That's creepy,"

"I know," Now Katara was sobbing. "And I can't stop it! You have to help me!"

Azula rolled her eyes. "That's what we came here for."

"Azula and the clue to the rescue," Zuko said monotonously.

* * *

**A/N: New story. Suckish, but I couldn't get the idea of Azula solving mysteries out of my head. This will be the first in a series of fifteen-chapter stories of Azula and The Clue **


	2. Investigation

**Azula **

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Two**

**Investigation**

"You said that you had only a few friends who still liked you earlier." Zuko said to Katara. Today, it was only him and his sister visiting Katara at her house.

"Must you remind me?" Katara asked.

Azula looked blank. "What he means is; who are your friends?"

"Well, there's Suki, my brothers girlfriend; Toph's been my best friend since, like, preschool; and Aang, my boyfriend of three years." Katara poured out.

"That's it?" Azula asked.

Zuko grinned. "What she means is; that's _so tragic_!" He watched both girls give him a dirty look.

"We'll need all their contact info," Azula said finally, as she held her hand out.

Katara sighed and searched around for a piece of paper. Presently, she scratched away with her pen and then gave the information to Zuko, who handed the sheet to his sister, and she read.

After three seconds, Azula stood, and silently left the room. Zuko trialed after her, saying, "Thanks Katara, we'll be over at your friends' houses. Or at least, that's where I think we're going."

* * *

"Her house is almost as big as ours." Azula observed from the front gate of the Beifong residence. Zuko pulled up beside the intercom.

"Do you have an appointment?" Said the voice from the small box.

"No, but…" Zuko couldn't finish.

"Do you know who we are?" Azula cut in from shot-gun.

The voice paused. "If you don't have an appointment, ma'am, I will have to ask you to…"

"I'm Azula Hammil. The daughter of Ozai Hammil, who owns an oil company. I trust you know him."

Just then the gate opened, and the siblings were aloud passing into the great estate. Soon they were out of the car an in front of the huge double-doors. Zuko had rung the doorbell.

"Who is it?"

"Another intercom? Seriously?" Azula hissed.

"Why should I let you in?" The voice said.

Zuko tilted his head. "Toph?"

"Yeah. My parents are gone, and I'm too smart to let those dumb maids answer this thing. Last time they almost set it on fire."

"We're here to talk to you about Katara."

The door slicked open. There stood a short, dark-haired teenager with long eye-covering bangs. Her green shirt stated boldly 'I'm with stupid'.

"Come in," She said roughly.

--

"Whatever she told you I did, it's all bull." Toph said blankly as the kids were taking their seats in her room.

"We just want to ask you a few questions." Zuko calmed her. "That's it."

Toph blew at her bangs, revealing grey-green eyes. "That's what they all say. Shoot."

"How long have you and Katara known each other?" Azula asked.

"Since preschool, I guess."

"Has she ever done anything to make you mad?"

"No. What are you getting at?!"

Azula could be just as snappy. "Listen. Just answer the questions!"

"Alright, if she hasn't done anything to you, do you think she could've done anything to piss someone else off?" Zuko tired to steer the girls away from fighting.

"Well," Toph's mind seemed to wander. "Maybe On Ji Fare. They've been fighting since the fifth grade."

"So, what's all that about?"

Toph snorted. "Being all high-and-mighty makes you miss a lot about us lowlifes, huh?" She seemed to stare directly to Azula, but, who could tell when her bangs covered her eyes?

"Just start at the beginning." Zuko said.

"When we were, like, maybe ten or eleven-years-old, Katara started to like Aang…"

"Her boyfriend." Zuko observed.

She nodded. "…And everyone knew that On Ji had eyes for Aang, even since we were like, fighting over crayons and stuff. But, in the long run, Katara won him over. On Ji's been pissed ever since."

Azula made a mental note: ON JI- SUSPECT.

"Anyone else?"

Toph shook her head. "She didn't get along with Suki, her brother's girlfriend, too well in the beginning, but they're pretty cool now."

"Are you aware of the online bully that's been targeting Katara?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah. I keep telling her to stay off the internet, but she never listens. She insists that she has to stop it online before it can stop in real life." Toph said.

"Who do you think did it?" Azula asked boldly.

Toph didn't even need to think. "On Ji! Haven't you been listening? She has every reason to hate Katara, and she does!"

Another mental note blared in Azula's head. She thought about how quick both Toph _and _Katara jumped to blame On Ji. In her mystery solving experience that meant that one was trying to cover something up. Could Toph have tried to hurt her best friend? Or could Katara have done this even to herself so she could blame On Ji? Who knew? She looked over to see Zuko, and he looked like he was wondering the same thing.

"You think I did it!" Toph yelled in realization. "I won't protest, just go ask Katara. I wouldn't waste my time trying to destroy her life online, if I wanted to, I would start in the _real _world. You people are unbelievable." Unemotionally, she took out her iPod and stuck the headphones into her ears without another word.

The sibling had to admit, she did sound pretty convincing.

Later that day, Azula was messing around on her Facebook. Suddenly, one of those little red yield signs that meant a friend wanted to talk to you popped up. She clicked on it, and the chatbox that appeared startled her.

THE_MISSING_LINK  
_Hey, hav I got the job 4 u! There's this terribl girl on FB, and me and a few friends r trying 2 teach her a lessn. Wanna hlp?_

First of all, Azula knew that only a friend could contact her through instant chatting. So she got to typing. Let the investigation begin.

AZULA  
_Who r u? How r u chtting w/ me? I nevr frended u_!

THE_MISSING_LINK  
_I'm TML and that's all u need 2 no. R u in or wat?_

AZULA  
_1__st__, I wanna no who u r!_

THE_MISSING_LINK  
_I told u I'm TML. Got it? So r u in?_

Then she got a brilliant idea.

AZULA  
_Ya, I'm in. Who's this grl?_

"Why not go under cover?" She said aloud. "I could get my work done quicker!"

THE_MISSING_LINK  
_Com 2 my profile pge, ther u'll get all the info u need.  
_(THE_MISSING_LINK is offline)

Azula went to search the name quicker than anything else she had ever done. Before long, she was face-to-face (Or computer) with the profile page. All it consisted of was:

THE MISSING LINK

_Hi, I'm TML. I'm ur frend. Katara Whiteman (In blue hyper-link style)  
Iz not ur frend. Go 2 hr profile, and the comments ther will giv u an idea of wat 2 do. Good lck!_

So far she had found nothing worth while, except the fact that, up in her computer's search browser, TML's profile page had no URL.

"_I guess that's where he gets his name," _She thought. _"But why? What happened to the URL? And what is it?"_

She quickly thought to check TML's comment wall. Nothing! No comments anywhere, but he did have a pretty long friends list. To Azula's surprise and horror, she saw her name among many other's… and the weird thing was that everyone else's user Id was LINK'S_CHAIN. She shivered as she reached for her phone. Time to call in the rest of The Clue for some hard investigation.

* * *

**A/N: Another Chapter! I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Facebook. Facebook is a very safe place to chat with friends. This is only a fictional story. If this has happened to you, it is only a coincidence. I am in no way trying to tell everybody to stay off of Facebook. It's a wonderful soical networking site. Review!**


	3. Interrogation

**Azula **

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Three**

**Interrogation**

"So… what are we doing today?" Tylee asked. She and Azula were walking away from their High School.

Azula held up her hand to examine her red fingernails. "We still have that case to take care of."

"Oh yeah," Tylee's face crumbled. "Poor Katara. I forgot about that…" And in an instant her face returned back to normal. "Are we going to do any case-solving today?"

Azula began to walk faster, and Tylee struggled to keep up with her.

"Where are we going?"

"On Ji Fare," Azula pointed to a pretty dark-haired girl that was unlocking her car across the school parking lot. Obviously, On Ji had seen the two girls coming toward her and stopped.

"Hi!" On Ji said, a little uncomfortably.

"Hello," Azula said as she approached the girl's car. "If you don't mind, we have a few questions to ask you."

"Oh sure!" On Ji was wondering what the most popular girl in school, Azula Hammil, would want to ask her. "Ya' have anywhere you need to go? I was just gonna go stop by the coffee house down the street, maybe I could bye you something."

"That would be great!" Tylee said. Usually, Azula didn't take handouts, but there was a case at hand and Tylee had already answered the question for her.

"Great!" On Ji said happily. Azula went around to shotgun and Tylee jumped into the backseat. "So what did you wanna ask me?" She put the key into the ignition.

"Well, there's an online bully that's been harassing Katara," Tylee began, almost seriously. "…And we were wondering if you knew anything about it."

"No, sorry. I haven't spoken to Katara in years!" On Ji cranked the air conditioning up full-blast.

Tylee faked a concerned look. "How come?" Like she didn't know.

"Back in fifth grade, I had a crush on her boyfriend, Aang," They made a right turn. "Katara knew, and she kind of teased me about it. Soon it got all over the school… and I never forgave her."

Tylee and Azula exchanged a look. That wasn't exactly what Toph had told Azula about On Ji and Katara's relationship. With one glance at On Ji, Tylee had wondered if she would even think about hurting someone. She didn't look like a bully.

"What were you doing yesterday?" You could always count on Azula to ask the questions that make people feel uncomfortable.

"I was actually on my Facebook." On Ji said, not the least bit uncomfortable. They just then pulled into the Coffee house parking lot. Then her cellphone rang.

Tylee peeked over On Ji's shoulder to see who was calling. On Ji glanced from side-to-side. "I've gotta take this," She said nervously. "You can go ahead in." With that she opened her car door and walked off.

When she was definitely out of earshot, Tylee turned to Azula. "It was Toph!" She said.

"Why would Toph be calling On Ji?" Azula wondered.

Tylee opened her door. "It's obviously about the online-thing, without a doubt." She sounded like she had never been so sure in her life.

"We aren't sure," Azula reminded her. "But we can always use that to see if it _is_ related to the online harassment."

Once they were out, they continued their conversation whilst walking through the Coffee House doors. Suddenly, beeping was heard from Azula's pockets. She took out her phone; she had received a text from TML.

YOU BETTER GET COLD FEET SOON. ON JI DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING! AND IF YOU TELL KATARA ANYTHING, YOU CAN KISS YOUR SECRET IDENTITY GOODBYE.

Azula rolled her eyes. "This guy, or girl, thinks he, or she, can blackmail me."

"I think it's so smart, what you did!" Tylee said as they took seats.

What Azula had done was fool TML into thinking that she was going to work for them, and she told him she was going to pretend to be solving Katara's mystery so that she wouldn't suspect her. Then, frame someone with fake evidence. While Azula's real motive was to get the inside scoop on everything that was going on online.

"Sorry, guys, I got a call from my mom!" On Ji looked blissful as she walked into the Coffee house. Azula and Tylee exchanged a glance.

On Ji took her seat across from Azula and Tylee. "So, what questions did you want to ask me?" She flashed a smile.

Azula wasn't going to play head-games. "Look, On Ji, we know your mother wasn't calling you."

The color left her face. "I…I…" She looked from right to left. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"It was Toph," Azula said. "…We know you're lying."

"Don't deny it," Tylee put her hand across the table to hold On Ji's.

On Ji then put her head down on the table and started sobbing. "Okay, it was me! I did it!" She cried.

"You're TML?" Tylee tried to get it out of her.

"No!" On Ji sniffed. "I'm only one of Link's Chains. No one knows who TML is!"

"Maybe you do. Is Toph TML?" Azula asked.

On Ji dried her eyes with her sleeve. "I don't know!" Then she got up and left the table.

Azula and Tylee exchanged another look, only this time; it was a look a failure. "So much for interrogation…" Tylee sighed. "We've also got no ride home."

"I'll text Jet," She whipped out her cellphone. "In the meantime, let's list our suspects and think about why they're suspects."

"There's On Ji, no doubt, but she's too afraid to talk," Tylee said.

Azula nodded as she continued texting. "…And Toph,"

"Yeah," Tylee nodded. "It was pretty cool how we got her to crack without knowing anything."

"But what does Toph have to do with anything, that's my question," Azula said.

Tylee shrugged. "The way you described her interview with you and Zuko, she sounded like a great liar."

"I pretty sure she is, now," Azula stuffed her phone pack into her pocket. "I just don't know what she's lying about,"

Tylee lowered her voice. "Let's think about the facts; Toph was on the phone with On Ji the same time you received that text from TML…"

"So that means Toph can't be TML," Azula finished the sentence. "But then, who is she?"

"Beats me," Tylee shrugged. "But don't you also think that On Ji might be TML?"

"She was on the phone with Toph when I got the text," Azula said, examining her nails.

Tylee nodded. "But she could've also texted you after the phone call, the time period was pretty long for just one phone call."

"But that means that Toph could've texted me,"

"This is confusing," Tylee sighed.

"Get used to it."

* * *

**A/N: THE REVIEW BUTTON IS FOR JUDGING THE STORY, NOT ME (Unless it's good judgment, ;)...)**

**~Rosey ;-**


	4. Triple Threat

**Azula **

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Four**

**Triple Threat**

Mai knocked on the door to Katara's bedroom. She stood alone with Azula because Tylee had gymnastics class, Jet was out of town, and Zuko had been asleep by the time the girls were ready to leave.

"Got everything?" Azula asked.

Mai nodded. "Tape recorder, pencil, notebook, and tape from your interview with On Ji."

The door opened to a smiling Suki. "Hey," She said. "Katara! Azula and Mai are here!" She called backwards.

"I'm right behind you, you don't need to yell," Katara approached them. "Hey, come inside." She beckoned them in.

Azula and Mai walked in and sat down on her bed across from Toph on the beanbag chair. The room was horribly messy with things strewn everywhere. Azula noticed that all three of the girls were wearing the 'triple threat' T-shirt in different colors. Slowly, as no one was watching, Mai slipped the tape-recorded half behind a lamp on a nearby nightstand.

Katara closed her door behind her and walked over to the computer chair. "Excuse the mess; we're trying to sort things."

"So, what brings you here?" Suki asked.

Mai decided to speak first. "We wanted to talk to Katara about On Ji."

Katara gave a halfhearted smile. "On Ji? We haven't spoken in years."

"Yes, we know," Azula nodded. "What we want to know now is why."

Katara and Suki seemed to exchange some sort of look. "Well," she began. "Back in about fifth grade, On Ji used to tease me about liking Aang. And, you know, it got around the school, so after that I never spoke to her again."

Azula gave an annoyed glance to Toph, who was sticking iPod earplugs into her ears. "That's not exactly what someone else has told us…"

Mai cut her off. "Azula and Tylee talked to On Ji yesterday," She gave Azula her _don't blow it _look. After all, they couldn't prove that either of them were lying. _Could be just point of view, _She thought.

"What did she say about me?" Katara asked.

Azula shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just the reverse of the story."

"Of course," Suki rolled her eyes. "Blame it on Katara when she's already going through so much. That sound just like something On Ji would do." Toph nodded, not seeming to be paying any attention to the matter at hand.

As Azula continued to ask questions, Mai went over things in her mind, like how all three girls were so quick to blame On Ji.

"Anyone else that might have a reason to hate you?" Mai skipped over the fact that On Ji was helping in some of the online harassment.

"Maybe… Meng Forrester." Katara said.

Suki laughed. "Yeah, she's got, like, the huge disgusting crush on Aang."

"We'll need some information about her." Mai said, steadying her pencil above the papers of the notebook.

"Well, she lives in the old Haunted Manse house on Rochester Street." Toph decided to interject at this point.

Mai looked to Katara to make sure Toph wasn't just lying. Katara nodded.

Toph went on. "I don't know the exact number of the house, but you'll know it when you see it. It just looks _distant_."

"So, you've been there?" Mai asked.

Toph bobbed her head up and down with the music from her iPod as if she hadn't heard, but Mai knew she had. Something about Toph wasn't right. She was trying to avoid something, just like On Ji.

"Anyone else?" Mai prompted.

Katara almost jumped in remembrance. "Oh! Yue Yin! She used to live next-door."

"What's that story?" Azula asked.

"Well, she used to be Sokka's girlfriend," Katara began, catching a glance at Suki. "She was really sweet, but just too nice. She would do anything Sokka told her… or anyone, for that matter. She was really devoted to him, but she just got too obsessed, and was over here almost every day. I told Sokka that I couldn't take it anymore; Yue was just like a stalker. Apparently Yue had overheard, packed up her things, and moved across town without even saying goodbye… I think she would be just a bit angry with me, I guess."

Mai nodded. "She lives across town, you said?"

"Yeah, off of Islington Road, on the water," Katara supplied. "I know because I saw her walking straight off into the woods, there."

"Anything else you could tell us about Meng or Yue?" Azula asked.

Katara nodded. "Some things you should watch out for," She turned to start sorting through things again. "Meng will ask if you want tea if she feels uncomfortable with the question you're asking, if you answer yes she'll come back with your tea and change the subject." She flicked a small piece of paper from her dark brown hair. "But Yue will start crying on impulse if she doesn't like where the convo is going. She'll say something like, 'I've just been so lonely for so long' or 'I don't know what you want from me'… something along those line, to get you to feel bad for her."

When Mai finished writing all of this down, they stood to leave. She subtly took the tape-recorder from its hiding place and she and Azula quickly whisked out.

"Are we going to interview Meng and Yue?" She asked as they hopped into Azula's expensive car.

Azula shook her head. "Time for some inside investigating, first."

Mai sighed; sometimes she didn't know what Azula meant by anything.

* * *

Later on, Azula was messing around on Facebook when an alert popped in the corner. She clicked on it, and read the words that stood in front of her.

_The_Missing_Link has sent you a message!_

She clicked the link that rested in the word _message_ and it sent her straight to her inbox. There rested the name. TML. The title of the message was: Clever Little Girl.

_My, u r a clevr lttle grl, aren't u? Katara thinks ur tryin 2 hlp hr, wen really, ur wrking agenst hr rite undr hr plastc nose! Ur on my good lst now, but if u slp up & tll Katara N E thing, u r ded… literlly. U wll suffr if I ctch u mking N E mstakez, so wtch it Azula._

Azula just sighed; she'd better do some investigation before she got in too deep. She didn't know how long she was going to be one of Link's Chains before she solved this case, but she was pretty sure she was getting close.

She looked at some of link's chains' pages. Most of them posed no picture to indentify them with, but some did have pictures of things, like cats or dogs or goldfish. The majority of the ones with pictures were of animals, but three stuck out to Azula for some reason.

Link's Chain_22's picture was a house by the water, Link's Chain_08's was a blue sapphire necklace, and Link's Chain_34's picture wore a weird tangle of lines that Azula couldn't figure out. _Hm_…

"House by the water, sapphire necklace, tangled lines." Azula said aloud, trying to match people with the pictures. With no luck, she sighed and began to text Zuko.

Zuko: _Y r u texting me? We liv in the same house._

Azula: _We r goin out!_

Zuko: _Stll on the case? I hpe we actually fnd out something useful ths tme._

Tylee: _Azula! U hav to com c wat I found!_

Azula: _wer r u?_

Tylee: _At the coffee house wer On Ji took us._

Azula: _Zuko, meet me at the coffee house._

Down at the Coffee House Tylee waited in the same seat she sat in when On Ji was with her. She smiled unceasingly as Azula and Zuko approached the table.

"Well?" Zuko said.

Tylee nodded. "I was walking down Islington Street when I saw something shiny in the woods…"

"And of course, you went for the shiny thing." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Yes," Tylee answered. "And when I got to it I found out it was a necklace, stuck between two rocks because it was caught by a metal piece sticking out from them. After unhooking the necklace I searched around for anything else and found this cellphone." She put the two items in the middle of the table.

Azula was taken aback. Out in front of her on the table sat a brilliant sapphire necklace, just like the one from the picture on Facebook. She picked it up carefully

Zuko examined the cellphone. "It works!" He sounded astonished. With a few clicks on his fingers on the buttons, his eyes grew wider.

"What?" Tylee asked.

He shoved the cellphone to the middle of the table, and Azula immediately snatched it up. There, before her eyes, were text messages about the online bullying.

_She's so stupid; it's amazing she hasn't figured it out yet._

_Ya, I know, it's pitiful_

_We don't even need the internet to make fun of her!_

_Its sitting right there in front of her eyes and she can't even see it._

_I've never really liked Katara…_

_Then why did you date her, genius?_

She stopped reading then. _Then why did you date her, genius? _That was obviously past tense, so it wasn't any current boyfriend Katara had… So… it must've been Jet. She didn't want to believe it, but it was right there on the phone. The address the text messages were to wasn't Jet's phone number, but if there as incognito as they seem to be, Jet's being very crafty. Azula angrily threw the phone back onto the table as she realized why Zuko hadn't told them right off what was in the phone. He proceeded with a nervous glance her.

This was a lot to cover in one day… everything just fell into place after that. Azula and thrown the phone onto its front, and the visible back had a sticker of those tangled lines.

"What are those?" Zuko pointed.

"Celtic knots." Tylee shrugged.

It just clicked right then: The pictures. Yue Yin lived in a house on the water, probably that one in the picture, on the back of the phone was the Celtic knots in the next picture, and here was the sapphire necklace.

All she had to do now: figure out who owned the cellphone, then the necklace, and finally confront Jet and the mystery was solved. Only, Azula wasn't exactly warmed up to the third task… she knew Jet would never do something like this, but he'd lied to her in the past… about Katara… Azula had been sort of 'the other woman' as most people had called it. Katara had warmed up to Azula in the past few days in a speed that Azula couldn't take in. It's like nothing ever happened between the three of them.

Azula snatched up the necklace, and Tylee offered her the cellphone, to which Azula replied, "You keep it, I just… Can't…" And she was out of the door without even waiting for Zuko.

Zuko found his sister leaning against the car with her arms crossed, looking deeply in thought.

"Listen," He said, unlocking the car. "I know you don't want to believe that Jet would do…"

"He didn't." Azula prompted.

"Jet's been trouble from the beginning," Zuko told her mercilessly. "When you think about how you two actually got together, it doesn't make sense that you're still around… as a couple."

"He _was_ a jerk at first, but he would never stoop to this." Azula said. "He told me that he talked it out with Katara."

Zuko shook his head. "And how many other things did he tell you, Azula? He can tell you anything."

"Shut up, Zuko!" Azula raised her voice. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

There was silence as Zuko drove. Finally, he sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry… I'm just trying to protect you… you're my little sister, you know?"

But Azula didn't respond, she was too deep in thought about how to handle everything. And plus, she didn't want him to know that she was crying. If Jet had done this, what else had he been lying about? And why was he out of town? He hadn't told her.

It was overwhelming. She now had three new suspects on her lists; Yue, Meng, and Jet.

Triple threat.

* * *

**A/N: who thinks Jet did it? Review and tell me! And what about Yue and Meng? On Ji, perhaps? And Toph has been on the list! REVEIW AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS.**


	5. Confrontation

**Azula**

**In**

**Azula and The Clue**

**Chapter Five**

**Confrontation**

"God. Why does she have to live out in the woods?" Zuko asked. He, Mai, and Azula were making their way through the woods to get to Yue Yin's house.

"She lives on the water," Mai said pointedly. She was still in a crabby mood about having to wear anything other than black that day. Azula had made it very clear that Mai was to sport an outfit to match the sapphire necklace she was going to wear… just incase the necklace was Yue's.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make it any easier to get there, now does it, Mai?"

"He's got a point," Azula said as they dodged large rocks and leaning trees.

Finally, they reached the back of the woods, where they faced a magnificent house by the lake. Mai held the sapphire necklace to her chest as they ran up to the porch.

Azula boldly knocked on the door, being there was no apparent doorbell, and the three waited for an answer.

"I don't like it," Mai said suddenly.

Zuko turned to her. "Don't like what?"

"Remember when we first started solving cases? We used to always do them together," She supplied. "But now, we split up."

"Why does that matter?" Azula asked.

"Strength in numbers, I guess." Mai answered.

Zuko stared. "I don't know what you mean."

"I don't know," Mai shrugged. "It's like some of us have got better things do than anything with each other lately."

"And you care?" Azula seemed surprised.

Mai shrugged again, to which the reply was the opening of the door.

Yue stood in the doorway and scanned the trio. "Hello?" Her greeting was more of a question than a welcome.

"Hey, I'm Azula and this is…"

"I know who you are," Yue scowled. "You used to steal my lunch money back in middle school."

"Yeah, well, can we skip that part?" Zuko asked.

Yue shrugged. "Fine. What do you want?"

"We'll need to ask a few questions…" Mai answered.

Yue turned to her, as if just realizing that Mai existed. Her eyes rested on the sapphire necklace, and a look of recognition passed in her eyes.

"Oh… see my necklace?" Mai patted it. "Zuko got it for me just the other day."

Yue stared as Zuko and Mai exchanged glances. "Um… yes, it's really beautiful. Why don't you come in?"

Azula detected something strange about Yue's change in face as she led the three kids inside. In was a nicely decorated house, Azula noticed, as they sat on couches in the living room.

"I didn't expect you so soon," Yue said suddenly.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "So soon?"

"Nothing," Yue shook her head. "What did you wanna ask me?"

"Just a few questions, it won't take long," Mai answered.

Yue nodded.

"Well," Azula began. "Yue, are you aware of the online bully that's been targeting Katara?"

"Katara Whiteman? That's terrible!" Yue looked horrified. "She'd always been like a sister to me, until… until… never mind."

Mai flaunted the sapphire necklace once more. "Yeah, Katara showed Zuko the place where he bought the necklace."

"For her birthday," Zuko tried to make it sound real. "Katara told me that Mai might want that necklace for her birthday."

Yue smiled. "How nice of her. Uh, where did you say you got the necklace again?"

Mai answered quickly. "Oh, one of those places in the mall…"

"But let's get back to the subject," Azula prompted. "Do you have a FaceBook?"

"Yeah, of course." Yue said.

"Alright," Zuko said. "Do you know On Ji Fare?"

She nodded coolly. "We have study group together."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Azula asked.

"Um…" This took Yue time. "I guess last Thursday, the day that the group gets together."

Mai prompted. "Have you called On Ji since then?"

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I called her on Friday."

Mai suddenly pulled out her notebook and started writing the currents.

"Why do you need to write this down?" Yue fumbled. "I-I'm not comfortable with that… I might say something that… that'll..." She seemed to be searching for the right words.

"Don't worry, no one else will see this." Zuko told her.

She took a deep breath. "I just... what are you going to do with this?"

"Nothing," Mai said as she wrote. "We'll just use the information."

"And it's best that you tell us the truth," Zuko added.

Yue swallowed hard. "Alright, I'll start from the beginning."

"That's always a good place," He said.

"I used to date Katara's brother Sokka," She began. "My parents were always fighting each other about something, and I lived next-door to the Whiteman's, so I tried to stay over at there house as much as I could." She paused so Mai could catch up. "One day, I overheard Katara and Sokka talking about me in the next room; they were saying that I was getting annoying. I hadn't meant to be that way, I was only trying to escape my own home, as I had realized later on. So my parents had gotten a divorce, and my dad got custody of me since my mom was a drunk. We moved way out here because I didn't want to be a bother to anyone anymore."

"And…" Azula prompted.

At this point Yue had burst into tears. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. I want to, but it could get dangerous."

"You can tell us," Mai said. "We seem to attract danger anyway."

Yue sniffled. "Well, one day I was on Facebook and I got this message from someone named The Missing Link, I opened it, and that was my first mistake. It said that if I didn't do what he said, I would drown in the lake I live on. Direct quote."

"So TML is for sure a guy?" Zuko said.

She froze. "Uh, n-no, I don't know… I…"

Azula sighed. "Just continue."

"The Missing Link said that I should start bullying Katara online, and after what she said about me, it was fun," Her shoulders drooped. "But after a while it wasn't fun anymore, so I stopped. That was my second mistake."

"What happened?" Mai asked.

Yue wiped her eyes. "I started getting disturbing text messages… saying stuff that I've tried to forget. It keeps me up at night."

Azula thought back to the other day when Tylee came across the lost phone. If Yue couldn't say that she had her phone with her, then that meant that Tylee probably had it.

"Do you have your phone with you?"

"Oh, yes," Yue took it out of her pocket. "Here, if you wanna see the messages."

Azula sighed inside. Was this case going to be impossible to solve? She took the cellphone with less enthusiasm, not thinking that she would find anything.

"Hey, what do you know about Celtic knots?" Mai asked as Azula rifled through the phone's messages.

Yue froze. "Um… no, sorry."

Mai and Zuko exchange glances. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yue raised an eyebrow.

_Wow,_ Mai thought. _Katara was right. She _does_ jump emotions… first skeptical, then crying, then defensive_.

Meanwhile Azula was checking phone messages. She found one that supplied enough information… or at least, more than the others.

_I need u ovr here._

_Y? wat do u want?_

_It's about Katara._

_U nevr shut up about her._

_I no, but it's important._

_Plz Meng, it always iz w/ u._

_Jst get ovr here._

_Fine._

"Do you know Meng Forrester?" Azula asked.

Yue's eyes narrowed, still red from crying. "Who wants to know?"

"I do,"

"We're partners in Biology, that's all," Yue darted her glare toward Zuko. "And I'm sure."

"Well, that's all we need to know," Mai said, getting up.

Yue followed them out. "I told you this could get dangerous!" She called after them. "If I get hurt, it's your fault!"

"Why would you get hurt?" Zuko paused at the door.

She didn't respond right away. "It's kind of obvious," She finally said. "What are you trying to do, trip me up in a lie?"

"Exactly." He grinned before leaving to catch up with Azula and Mai.

"So, where are we going now?" Mai asked.

Azula paused as they approached the woods again. "Meng Forrester's." She said. "But we're rounding up Tylee and Jet first."

"Why?" Zuko questioned.

"Strength in numbers." The girls chorused.

"But…" Zuko said pointedly, referring to the whole Jet-is-a-supposed-traitor affair.

Azula shook her head. "We'll talk things out first."

"And then to Meng's?" Mai asked.

"Of course," Azula nodded. "After our second confrontation."

* * *

**A/N: Is Jet the elleged traitor that he's supposed to be? And what is Yue hiding from The Clue, since she's not telling the whole truth? Is Meng really intertwined in the whole affair? And who are the owners or the mysterious sapphire necklace and celtic knot cellphone? Find out next chapter!**


	6. Summit

**Azula****  
****  
In**

**The Missing Link**

**Chapter Six**

**Summit**

"Hey, babe," Jet said as he hopped out of his car. "You called?"

Azula turned away. They were the only two out in the McDonald's parking lot, seeing as the rest of The Clue had already went inside. This was the chosen meeting ground, to talk about everything that had been resulted so far.

"Giving me the cold shoulder?" Jet put an arm around her.

Azula shrugged him off. "Yes, and we need to talk."

"Then talk," His expression was one that she couldn't read.

"Read this first," She handed him the Celtic knot cellphone. "So you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, and what you'll need to tell me."

Jet cautiously took the phone from her hand.

"Check the messages."

He obeyed, hitting the buttons at an unnatural teenaged speed. After a few seconds, he returned the phone to her.

"So...?" Azula prompted.

Jet shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to tell you, but I've never seen those messages in my life."

"Don't lie to me," She spat coldly.

"I'm not!" He argued. "Azula, look at the date on those messages... I was still dating Katara then."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" She said, whipping the phone back in front of her face. And, there it was, the date. A year-and-a-half earlier.

Jet raised an eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look, you're as much a suspect as anyone," Azula hissed. "What puzzles me is the date... no one was harassing Katara onling back then."

"So that means we have another case to solve, too?" Jet stifled a groan.

"Maybe," She answered. "But, then, who's the guy in the text messages?"

Jet's face hardened. "Think, Azula... who dated Katara before I did?"

Of course, Azula knew who, but she didn't want to say the name aloud. Katara's boyfriends went as following from the latest to earliest... Aang, Jet, Zuko, Haru. _So does that mean that Zuko...? _She didn't even want to finish the thought. She doubted that her brother could be that subtle and straight-faced about anything, but from her previous mystery-solving experience, she learned that everything thing is not what it seems when it comes to the suspect... even if you'd known them all your life.

"Should we... go inside?" Azula was still deep in thought when she said this.

"That would be best," Jet nodded. And, together, they walked toward the McDonald's.

Inside, they slid into a booth oposite of Tylee, who was idly playing with her caramel sundae.

She looked up, obviously just realizing Azula's existance. "Azula!" She leaned over the table to throw her arms around her. "I missed you!"

"It's only been a day," Azula dettached herself from the girl.

"I know, but I still missed you." Tylee sat back down. "Hi, Jet!"

"Hey, Tylee."

"Where are Zuko and Mai?"

Tylee giggled and jerked her head to where Mai and Zuko were seated across the room. "They're being all mushy! It's _so_ cute!"

Azula followed her gaze, and there they were. Mai contented in her vanilla ice-cream-cone, and Zuko slurped his strawberry milkshake, which was completely out-of-character for them. They didn't embrace like normal couples did, but just stared into each other's eyes with a look of pure gratification, making the moment so private that Azula felt the need to look away. Sighing still, because their relationship came so easy to them, like breathing.

Tylee, however, didn't get the gist of the solitude. "Zuko, Mai! Get over here!" She called between giggles.

With one last look, the couple stood to join the others. Mai slid into the booth beside Tylee and Zuko brought a chair to the edge of the table.

"Well, now that we're all together, we can finally get to the bottom of this case." Azula began.

"I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever solve this case," Mai said after licking her ice-cream. "In truth, it's never taken us more than a few weeks, but we're getting close to the week-and-a-half mark and we haven't even got hard evidence."

"Not true!" Tylee argued. "We have evidence! The phone and the necklace!"

"But what is it evidence of?" Mai asked pointedly.

Tylee, for the first time since birth, was rendered speechless.

"We have three main suspects," Azula ignored the two. "On Ji, Yue, and Meng." She purposefully left out her brother's name.

"Why is Yue a suspect?" Zuko asked. "I think we've gotten all we could out of her."

"And we haven't interviewed Meng yet," Mai said. "Are we going to do that today?"

"Ideally." Azula nodded.

Jet cut in at this point. "I'm lost. Who're Yue and Meng?"

"To be honest, we don't really know either." Zuko admitted.

"We'll catch you up on the way there." Azula promised.

Tylee grinned. "What if the necklace belongs to her?"

"Who? Meng?"

"Is there anyone _else_?"

Zuko sighed. "You never know."

"Anyone have any theories?" Azula asked.

"Toph has been acting strange from the beginning," Mai answered. "It could be her."

"Why would she do that to Katara?" Zuko asked.

Mai shrugged. "She _could_ just be bored."

"I think it's On Ji," Zuko said. "She has the motive."

"But _everyone_does!" Tylee protested. She was one of those teenagers who loved to speak in italics. "It could be anyone, we all know that, but I especially think it's Meng."

"Why?" Azula voiced the question that everyone but Jet was wondering.

The youngest girl answered in a shrug. "She could our missing link!" Then, she laughed at her own joke.

"I think I know who it is..." Jet trailed off. Azula, sensing her boyfriend's train of thought, stepped on his foot under the table.

Jet winced, but got her point. "I think it's been Toph all along," He stuttered.

"So I'm not alone," Mai nodded as she finished off her cone.

"Did you ever think that Katara might be the culprit?" Tylee suddenly said.

"Why would she be?" Azula questioned.

"She could be doing it to herself so she can blame someone else," She answered.

"That does sounds like something she would do." Zuko and Jet chorused, then stared a each other.

"But," Zuko went on, not taking his eyes off of Jet. "I don't think she would do it... when we first went to her house, she looked pretty upset."

Azula sighed, realizing her predicament. Both Zuko and Jet blame the other for the crime, but in truth, Azula didn't -wouldn't- think either of them did it. If this was about Katara's past boyfriends, a visit with Haru was easily in order, but the teenage girl didn't -wouldn't- feel like adding another suspect.

"Some world summit this turned out to be," Mai muttered. "We have no more idea what's going on than Katara does herself."

"Or not," Tylee added.

"So... to Meng's?" Azula stood.

There was a shared groan from the table. Azula grimaced. "Either we solve this, or Katara hates us even more."

"Since when do you care?" Zuko asked.

"Since you became a suspect!" She blurted out without thinking. But the words kept flowing. "When we go back to Katara for our weekly, she'll want to know what we have so far, and she won't like us stopping the case if she knows that you're a prime suspect, Zuko! I'm trying to protect you!"

"Since when am I a suspect?" Zuko thought his sister was joking.

"Since you dated Katara!" With that, Azula slipped past Jet and stalked from the fast food restaurant.

"Way to go, Zuko," Jet said before going after her.

"What did I do?" Zuko asked Mai and Tylee.

The two girls exchanged looks. Mai sighed. "Looks like this isn't going to be our last group summit."

* * *

**A/N: Jet thinks Zuko is a suspect, Zuko thinks Jet is a suspect. Who do you believe? Or do you side with Tylee to say that Meng is the culprit? Mai thinks that it's been Toph all along. But could Katara also be to blame? On Ji and Yue are still on the list. Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**

**~Rosey :)**


	7. Deal

**Azula  
In  
THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Seven**

**Deal**

Mai groaned. Here she was, out in the McDonald's parking lot, watching Tylee flaunt her ability to bend like a pretzel.

"Why don't you try, Mai?" Tylee giggled nonstop. "It's only a cartwheel!"

"I don't try because I'm sixteen-years-old!" Mai answered.

Tylee poked out her lower lip. "I'm fifteen, but I don't see your point."

Mai sighed. "That's because you act like a child." She was getting irritable. Azula, Jet, and Zuko were talking things out in the parking lot on the other side of the McDonald's, where their cars were parked. Mai was told to babysit Tylee here, because there wasn't anything the fifteen-year-old hated more than fights. Mai could care less. _And I do, _She thought mercilessly.

"When are they gonna be done?" Tylee continued to pout. "I'm getting bored." Though claimed bored, she went into an idle handstand.

"I don't know, they're fighting about something."

"Why _do_ people fight?" Tylee looked as if she were about to cry.

"Listen to you, you even _sound_ like child."

Tylee ignored her. "It's as if we're falling apart. Even us. Even you're being mean, Mai. And that's saying something, because usually you don't show any emotion at all."

"I don't know," Mai shrugged. "Azula seems to be the only one in a bad attitude."

"That's beside the point. Azula is always in a bad attitude," Tylee persisted still.

"Good point," Mai continued. "Yesterday I was just saying that we never do anything together anymore. All together, I mean."

"We're the only sane ones around here."

Mai rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't go as far as to say that."

"Let's go out together for a movie this weekend, just you and me." Tylee's huge grey irises sparkled.

"But that goes against everything I just said," Mai protested.

"Please, Mai?" Tylee was hopping around the poor sixteen-year-old in circles. "Please? Please, please, please?"

"Oh, alright," Mai sighed. "But I get to pick the movie."

Tylee nodded and grinned. "Twilight: New Moon?"

"Whatever."

"Yay!" She went back to doing cartwheels.

"Tylee, I will never forgive you for this."

"That's the spirit!"

Suddenly, Zuko was at Mai's side. "What is it?"

"We're going to see New Moon this weekend," Mai sighed.

He chuckled. "Did she pull the old _hop-around-in-a-circle-and-please-please-please _on you?"

"Yes, if that's what you call it." She watched Azula and Jet make their way over.

"But who could say no to this face?" Tylee smiled brightly and pointed to herself.

"No," Zuko flashed Mai's favorite lopsided grin when he said this.

Tylee poked her bottom lip out. "Don't, Zuko. Or I'll make you come with us."

Zuko's shirtless-Rob-Pattinson-phobia is what saved him that day.

"We're headed to Meng's house," Azula said monotonously as she approached the three. It was easy to see that she wasn't in the best mood after her 'talk' with Zuko and Jet. Mai swiftly went to shot-gun in Zuko's car so she wouldn't have to sit in the back with the embassador for PMS and her bad-boy-boyfriend. Poor Tylee would be stuck sitting between the two, which was far worse than sitting in the movie-theatre watching vampires and werewolfs all day.

---

"We're here!" Tylee bounded from the BMW with a look of pure joy on her face. They all knew why; because being trapped in the backseat with Azula and Jet was enough to make you crazy. Tylee had already rangb the doorbell by the time the rest of The Clue had gotten to the doorstep.

_Toph's right,_ Mai thought. _This place _does_ look creepy._

After a few seconds, the door opened to a small, fourteen-year-old girl with stick-out hair and rainbow braces.

"Um, hello... what can I do for you?" She greeted them cautiously.

Azula was in no mood for evasions. "You know why we're here."

Meng stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "Do I?" She sounded hesitant.

"We're here to talk with you," Zuko said.

"I already have someone over, but..." She fumbled. "Um, yeah, come in." Meng stepped aside to reveal someone seated on the floor of the living room of the house.

On Ji Fare.

"Oh!" On Ji immediately stood at the sight of The Clue. "You guys... again."

The group followed Meng into the house, taking seats on the couches. On Ji nervously sat across from Azula and Jet, next to Meng, who also look nervous.

"Once again, you know why we're here." Mai stated blankly.

Tylee nodded. "So tell us everything you know."

On Ji opened her mouth to protest, but Zuko cut her off with, "And we'll be a ble to tell if you're lying."

Meng nodded once. "But I haveone thing to ask first."

"Of course."

"Where'd you find my necklace?" She looked straight at Mai, who, at the time, was wearing stunning sapphires on her chest.

"So this is yours?" Mai answered.

"Yes. It fell off in the woods when I was..." Meng shook herself, as if to shake off a thought. "Well, nevermind. Just give me my necklace."

"How much do you want it?" Azula asked.

Meng cocked her head to the side. "Well, a lot. It was my mother's."

"Then you'll tell us everything we need to know." Azula smirked.

That was the deal. Or it _was_, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: Meng is in the story now? Will she act as an informant for the group or evade every question? What will she choose with her sapphire necklace at state! REVIEW!**


	8. Informant

**Azula  
In  
THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Eight**

**Informant**

Meng look down as everyone waited for her answer. _Should I tell them everything? _She wondered hopelessly. _I suppose, if it's for mom's sapphires..._

"Alright," Suddenly, her head snapped up. "I'll give you what you want. Just give me the necklace."

"After we're through with you." Azula told her calmly. "Now tell me, since you already know what we're here for, I want to ask something."

As On Ji shot her a distressed glance, Meng accepted. "Yes?"

"Why?"

"Because," On Ji spoke up. "Katara's been horrible to us both."

"How so?" Jet asked.

"She always gets all the guys, the grades, and the grapes." On Ji answered.

"Grapes?" Mai repeated.

Meng sighed. "She's got a rockin' body."

Azula nodded. "I see. So this is all because of jealousy?"

"Not just jealousy, but... force." Meng corrected.

"Force?"

"I... well, yeah, force." On Ji nodded. "We were kinda, I don't know... yeah, forced, I guess, into it. Though, we wanted to do it, though."

"Wanted?" Zuko questioned her past tense.

"It got boring," Meng said. "Just knocking Katara on the internet was... I don't know. It just wasn't enough for The Missing Link. He, or she, wanted more every time, his, or her, persistance got annoying, so we stopped."

"That doesn't stop TML from sending the disturbing text messages," On Ji shuddered.

"Do you want some tea?" Meng asked.

Before anyone else could say anything, Azula answered. "I'll have some... but, On Ji, you go get it. We'd like to talk to Meng alone."

On Ji nodded timidly, then scurried off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Meng nervously fingering the hole in her jeans.

"Do you know anything about The Missing Link?" Zuko asked once On Ji was gone.

Meng looked back and forth before leaning in to whisper. "I think it's a girl... or so I've heard."

"Why are you whispering?" Tylee asked loudly.

"Sshh!" Meng shushed her. "The Missing Link is everywhere... it's like 'she' hears and sees everything."

"Are you sure it's a girl?" Jet asked.

"Yes," She nodded. "I saw a picture... but it was only from the back of the person."

"Could you describe?" Zuko was leaning in now, too.

Suddenly, there was a bleeping sound, and Meng gulped loudly. Reaching behind her, she pulled out her cellphone from her back pocket. Hitting the buttons slowly, she checked her messages and then quickly threw her phone down on the floor with a gasp.

"Could we see?" Jet asked.

She nodded and grimaced, revealing her rainbow-colored braces once more.

Jet picked the phone up off of the ground and showed it to Tylee, who was sitting beside him, Tylee passed it to Mai, who passed it to Zuko, who passed it to his sister, Azula.

Azula's eyes widened as she read the text on the small phone's screen.

To: Meng Forrester

Cc: The Missing Link

_Meng, u r on a tite leash. 1 tht cud easily b pulld 2 choke u. B careful wat u say... they cud b ur lst wrds._

"I think I can still describe what was in the picture for you." Meng took a deep breath. "It was only the back of someone, I'm not even sure if it's The Missing Link, but I hope it can help you."

"We'll do what we can with your information." Azula prompted.

Meng nodded back. "Alright, the summary of it is dark hair, red jacket, black leggings, red boots. Blue fingernails with white swirls, too."

"I'm back!" On Ji came in carrying a tray with three little teacups on it. She handed on to Azula, one to Meng, and than set the tray with the last teacup on the sidetable where she was sitting.

"Oh, my shoes untied." She murmured. Bending down to tie her shoe, the back of her shirt slid up just a little.

Azula's eyes widened. There, on On Ji's lower back, was a tattoo of the Celtic knots.

"You have a tattoo?" Tylee asked. "Me too!"

Everyone in The CLue rolled their eyes. They all knew how much Tylee loved to flaunt her 'adult achievement' to everybody. Tylee's tattoo, although on her lower back like On Ji's, was one of a heart with an arrow through it.

"You saw that, huh?" On Ji blushed and quickly sat back at her seat.

"What is it?" Zuko asked, though he knew perfectly well what the tattoo was.

On Ji turned even redder. "A Celtic knot. My family... uh, it's supposed to be that we come from the 'acient Celts'. Everyone in my family gets the tattoo somewhere when they turn sixteen... it's our, um, significance, I guess."

"Wow, interesting story." Zuko said, standing. "Well, we'll be out of your way, now."

"My sapphires!" Meng extended her hand for 'Mai's' necklace.

Mai shook her head. "We'll keep these. We could use them,"

Azula nodded, and the rest stood to leave. As they left through the door Azula thought she heard On Ji say to Meng, _"Now look what you've gotten us into!" _this amused her, somehow. Meng hadn't given them enough information for TML to be irritated.

_Oh well, _She thought as they jumped into Zuko's shiny BMW. _Meng was our informant for today._

_

* * *

_

**A/N: Azula seems exeptionally calm given what had happened two chapters earlier. How do you think her talk with Jet and Zuko went? And will Meng ever get her sapphires back? And, of course, I still want you to tell me who you think is the culprit! REVIEW!**


	9. Unidentified

**Azula  
In  
THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Nine**

**Unidentified**

That Saturday, Mai and Tylee were emerging from the movie theater; one with more gusto than the other.

"That was the best movie ever!" Tylee bounced out of her seat.

Mai shrugged. "I've seen better."

As they went to stand in the line to get out of the movie room, Tylee stared at Mai incrediously. "What do you mean 'you've seen better'? There's nothing better than Edward Cullen's bare chest!"

"Zuko's got a six-pack, too."

"I supposed you would know," Tylee nodded in defeat. "But... Don't you think Jacob Black's abbs were hot, too?"

"Fake." Mai said as the slowly shuffled along.

"Were not!"

"I'm not going to fight with you over fictional character's fictional biceps," Mai finished. "The movie wasn't that great anyway. I didn't understand anything."

Tylee sighed dramatically. "That's because you've never seen _Twilight_!"

"And I intend to keep it that way."

"Didn't you just love it when Jake came to Bella's room, and was all like, 'Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't tell anyone'?" The petite fifteen-year-old mimicked Taylor Lautner's voice with perfection. "And then he saw the dreamcatcher he gave her hanging over her bed? I thought I was going to cry!"

"You did cry." Mai sighed. "Several times."

Tylee giggled. "But not at that part! I cried when Edward left Bella, and when Jacob told her to go home in the rain, and when Bella found Edward again."

Finally, as if to answer Mai's prayers, they made it out of the movie room and into the long hall. This didn't stop Tylee from jabbering on about the movie, but it did save Mai from listening, because now she wasn't so close.

And then she saw it.

"Tylee!" Mai whispered loudly. "Get over here!"

The youngest girl obeyed, flouncing lightly over to where Mai was crouching by the trash can.

"What are you doing?"

"Sshh!" Mai warned. "Look!"

Tylee followed her gaze and gasped. There, across the hall, was Aang with a girl... the two couldn't tell if she was Katara or not. He led her from the movie room where they had apparently just seen _The Blind Side_, and from where Tylee and Mai were crouched, they could only see the back of the girl.

Dark hair, red jacket, black leggings, red boots. Blue fingernails with white swirls, too.

"We gotta go see the front of her!" Tylee whispered urgently, standing and slowly walking away. Mai followed close behind, making sure that it didn't look like they were following Aang and his mystery girl.

Mystery girl stopped at the girls' bathroom and went inside; Aang waited outside for her to return. Mai and Tylee scurried inside the bathroom, making sure that Aang didn't see them.

Inside the bathroom, just as Mai and Tylee arrived, mystery girl wenty inside a stall.

Mai stared at the boots under the door. "This girl must have money to spare," She whispered. "Those are designer boots."

Tylee nodded thoughtfully. "Who do we know have boots like that?"

"Azula," Mai answered. "She has every kind of boot on the planet."

"But why would she do something like this?" Tylee asked.

"Why do murderers kill people? Why do robbers rob? Why do girls watch Twilight? People are crazy." Mai answered wittingly.

"It doesn't seem like something Azula would do."

"You're right, it doesn't." Mai nodded. "We'll just have to wait and see who comes out."

And in the next second, the mystery girl did come out of the bathroom. Now with the hood of her red jacket up and her sun glasses on. Pink lipgloss complimented her pale skin. Quickly, the girl went to the sinks, squirted germ-ex from her purse onto her hands, and was out of the door faaster than she came.

"Who was that?" Tylee turned to Mai once they were alone in the bathroom.

Mai shrugged. "I have no idea... with the hood and glasses on, I coudn't tell."

"She could be just Katara. Or On Ji, or Toph, or... Azula." Tylee continued through the list of girls she knew with dark hair.

"The only people we know for sure wasn't that girl is you and me." Mai sighed.

"Is it time to check in with Katara quite just yet?" Tylee asked.

Mai nodded. "I guess so."

They needed to come face-to-face with this unidentified mystery girl. And _Fast_.

* * *

**A/N: Before you ask, yeah, I _have _seen Twilight: New Moon. I tried not to put anything in this chapter that wasn't already in the previews. If you haven't seen New Moon yet, I'm really sorry if I spoiled anything for you. And also, I must give a shout out to me fellow Team Edward fans: Guys, I love ya, BITE ME! Lolololololololol (Get it? Edward? Vampire? Bite me? No? Okay). And, oooh, mystery girl. Tell me who you think it is! REVIEW!**

**~Rosey.**


	10. Connective

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Ten**

**Connective**

Tylee knocked on Katara's bedroom door. She was there with Mai alone, because Azula hadn't been home when they swung by to pick her up.

"Just a minute!" They heard the cheerful voice call from inside.

Tylee turned to Mai. "Should we tell Katara about what we saw...?"

"No," Mai answered. "She'll figure it out soon enough. Just talk around the subject."

"Okay," Tylee nodded. "I just feel so bad for her. That doesn't exactly seem like something Aang would do!"

Mai rolled her eyes. "It could just be a cousin, or just a friend, remember?"

"Just a friend? I dont-" Tylee was cut off mid-sentence when the door swung open.

Katara stood holding a basket of laundry with a phone balanced on her shoulder. "Oh, hey, you guys... could you hold on for a second?" She greeted them.

"No, not you." She giggled into the phone. "Listen, Aang, I gotta go. Love you, too."

Tylee sighed. _Poor Katara... she looks _so_ happy. I wish the world wasn't the way it is._

"Hi!" Katara closed her flip-phone and put it in the laundry basket. "Come in!" She stepped aside so the two girls could do so.

Mai and Tylee took seats in the beanbag chairs. Katara sat on her bed across from them, the bed heavily blanketed in all sorts of clothing. The room was much cleaner than it was the last time the group had met up... but not the bed, of course.

"Sorry," Katara apologized. "I'm was doing my laundry while talking to Aang, and as you can see, I'm not such a great multi-tasker."

Mai nodded. "We're here to talk to you about the online harrassing."

"Of course," Katara's face crumbled as the words flew from her mouth.

"We've gotten to at least three people who've participated in the bullying," Tylee spoke up. "But we haven't reached the mastermind quite just yet."

"When will you be able to solve this?" Katara asked. "It seems like it's only getting worse!"

Mai shook her head. "We don't know, but we're doing all we can."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Katara nodded.

"We need to ask you a few questions, though." Tylee smiled.

Katara smiled back. "Okay."

"First off, do you have any friends that wear designer clothing? Namely, Dolce & Gabana?" Tylee asked.

"Um, I wouldn't exactly call her a friend. I don't have many right now." Katara admitted. "Her name is Jin Brown; she's on the swim team. For some reason, she doesn't like me. But at this point in time, who does?"

"Is there any way to difference her from other people?" Mai asked.

Katara nodded. "She always wear's a red cherry headband, and she sports blue fingernails with wierd swirls on them everyday. I'd say you'd be able to find her, not many kids on the swim team wear nail polish or much make-up."

_"Blue fingernails with white swirls, too." _Meng's words rang in Mai's head. Had the group finally foung their missing link? She sure hoped so.

"A few more questions," Tylee said. "Does your boyfriend Aang have any close relatives nearby?"

"Um... no. It's just him and his grandfather at his place."

There it was. That was the verdict. _Either she's in on it or she's completely clueless. _Tylee said in her head.

"Do you know where he'd be on Thursday?" Mai asked.

Katara shrugged. "I think he has some sort of study group that meet's then... other than that, I wouldn't know where he would be."

Tylee's ears rang. _Some sort of study group, _She repeated in her head. It sounded suspiciously similiar to something Yue had told them.

_"I guess last thurday, the day the study group gets together."_

If On Ji, Yue, and Meng have 'study group' together with him, could Aang somehow be included in all that's happened to Katara.

"Please," Katara was now saying. "Just do whatever you can to stop this... it's getting overwhelming."

"We'll try." Mai promised in a monotone.

As the two girls left Katara's house that day, they wondered if somehow they could connect Jin and Aang to this crime.

---

"There she is!" Tylee pointed straight across the hall to Jin Brown, who was slamming things around in her locker angrily. It was a Thurday morning, a day when _everyone_ was a bit aggitated; all waiting for the weekend to come.

Mai shrugged. "I guess it's now or never."

"Let's go," Azula led them across the hall to the girl.

As they came over, Jin looked up. "What do _you _want?" She asked suspiciously.

"We just need to talk to you." Tylee said calmly.

Jin sighed. "Alright, but make it quick."

Azula grimaced. "Do you know Katara Whiteman?"

"Yeah, I think she's on my swim team. She doesn't say much." Jin answered.

"Are you aware of the online bully that's been targeting her?" Mai asked.

Jin sighed once more. "Does she really need people bullying her online, too?"

"Do you know Aang Gyatso?" Mai challenged.

Jin shook her head. "Never met the kid." She raised her blue-tinted fingers to brush her dark brown hair out of her face.

"Nice nail polish!" Tylee grinned. "Never tried blue before. Do you like that color?"

"Yeah, blue's cool," Jin answered. "You guys have ten seconds."

"Where will you be tonight?"

"Home."

"Doing what?"

Jin shrugged. "Messing around on FaceBook. Look, I really gotta go."

"See you tonight!" Tylee said giddily.

Jin turned to give another suspicious look before dissapearing into a classroom.

Mai turned to Azula. "It would've been better if your were there on Saturday."

"I wish I had been." Azul admitted.

Tylee turned, also. "Where were you, anyway?"

"I was out with a friend..." Azula answered, almost too quickly.

Mai pushed away the thought that had entered her mind. _Azula... had went out with a friend... on the same day that we saw the mystery girl. Hmm..._

"Well, you know what this means, don't you?" Azula asked the two.

"What does it mean?" Mai groaned.

Azula smirked. "We're going to Thursday night's study group."

"But not to study," Tylee addded.

"Probably not..." Mai sighed.

"C'mon girls," Azula starte to stride away. "We're going to be connective."

* * *

**A/N: Who thinks Jin did it? REVIEW! Who thinks Azula did it? REVIEW! And if there's anyone else that you suspect, REVIEW!**

**~Rosey :)**


	11. Burn

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Burn**

"I wish _we_ didn't have to come here," Zuko muttered as they pulled up in front of the Fare's house.

"We're supposed to do this as a _collective group_!" Tylee told him.

Azula was the first to make it from the BMW, of course. She stood in front of her fellow detectives and began to speak.

"You all know why we're here, and in a moment, everyone in that house will, too." She announced. "This here, shall be our last interrogation-meeting. AFter tonight, there'll be no more mystery to solve. We'll be done."

The small little group clapped and hooted, but Jet said, "There'll _always_ be a mystery to solve."

Azula nodded to him. "But as far as this particular one goes, we'll have solved it tonight. Let's go, everyone."

And then the group strode up the pavement to the small house. Jet was the one to knock on the door this time.

"Hello?" The door opened to small, petite On Ji, who was dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt. Horrific to all things Tylee.

"Oh," On Ji said once she identified the five teenagers standing before her. "You guys. Did you have to pick today?"

"Just let us in." Zuko ordered, rather than asked.

The girl just sighed, then stepped aside to let the others in.

"We had our study group early today, since my parents are gone, we're just hanging out until late." On Ji informed them.

The Clue followed On Ji up to her room, where they came to see three faces staring back at them. Meng relieved, Yue nervous, and Jin terrified.

"Um, On Ji?" Yue fidgeted. "What are_ they _doing here?"

"Just dropping in." Mai answered.

"We were just going to get ready to play Clue," Meng pointed to the board game on the floor.

"Perfect!" Tylee was overjoyed.

"Only six can play," Jin challenged. "Or not."

"Exactly." Azula smirked.

Jin turned. "It's plain to see that Zuko, Mai, and Jet don't want to be here. And you can't make them do anything, can you?"

"That's right," Tylee nodded, then to the three latter members of The Clue, "Pick us up in an hour."

Zuko, Mai, and Jet would be eternally grateful to Tylee alone as they bounded from the house with the keys to the shiny BMW.

Jin look mortally terrified. "Alright, let's play."

Everyone chose their characters carefully, placing each one in the right place and dealing the cards. Even though the game posed itself innocent, everybody knew that now they were not talking about murders here; the mystery to solve was one of social networking.

"Wait. Before we start, I have something to say." Jin began.

On Ji nodded. "Of course."

"Whoever wins gets to choose what we do next." This sounded harmless as she said it, but Jin had a trick up her sleeve.

"Sounds good." Tylee smiled. "Let's go."

Azula rolled the dice first, getting a four, and navagating her way towards her destination in little steps. Her player was Ms. Scarlet.

"Me next," Meng announced. She rolled five, her being Col. Mustard, and found herself in the lounge. "I suspect Ms. Scarlet, in the lounge, with the candle stick." Everyone closed their eyes and held up the right cards. Meng saw that she was not right about Ms. Scarlet or the lounge, but the candle stick was directly involved. Azula was a bit irritated that anyone would think she was the culprit behind the _real _crime, but she could care less about any murders.

"My turn." On Ji said once the eyes were open. Her being Rev. Greene, she rolled a perfect six, landing her in the living room. "I suspect Ms. White, in the living room, with the wrench."

Closed eyes again, and On Ji saw that she was wrong about all her assumptions. Yue felt hurt that Meng would think that she was The Missing Link.

"I'm next!" Tylee sang. She played Mrs. Peacock. Rolling the dice, she got three, landing her in the middle of the board liek Azula.

Jin was next. Her player was Mr. Plum, and she rolled a six like On Ji. That took her to the kitchen. "I suspect Mrs. Peacock, in the kitchen, with the revolver." Like Meng, Jin didn't get anything right.

On Yue's turn, "I'd like to make an accusation." She said boldly.

"On your first turn?" Meng asked.

Yue nodded. "I accuse Mr. Plum, in the billard room, with the candle stick." She picked up the folder marked _CONFIDENTIAL_ in the middle of the game board. Peeking inside, she realized that she was right about all her assumptions.

"Looks like you're the criminal, Jin." Azula said, a bit smug.

Jin scoffed. "Do you actually think that I would waste my time on Katara?"

"Yes I do," Azula answered. "If it means that you'd end up getting Aang in the end."

"I told you, I don't even know the kid!" Jin stood angrily.

Yue looked fearful, still. "You mean, you're The Missing Link, Jin?"

"No, I'm not!" Jin protested. "I don't even know what a missing link is!" Suddenly there was a faint sound of Beethoven playing, obviously spinning itself from Jin's purse. She reached in and took it out, looked at the screen, and then gently put it back inside her purse.

Azula was the first to dive for the phone, thus grabbing it and searching the messages.

"Hey!" Jin reached for her cell. "Give it back!" Tylee slapped her hand out of the way as Azula continued to check the messages.

"Looks like you and TML have had a past together," Azula finally looked up. "Why did you lie?"

Jin took a deep breath. "Because he, or she, told me to."

"It's a she for sure," Meng corrected. "In the picture of her, she had blue fingernails with white swirls on them, and the same red boots you're wearing. That's probably why they thought it was you."

"I swear someone's framing me! I'm not TML!" Jin screeched. "I didn't want this, I was _forced_!"

"How so?" Azula was interested now.

"The Missing Link claimed to be someone that I knew, and she said that if I didn't do what she said, I would drown in the pool before anyone on the swim team noticed me," Jin took deep, even breaths. "I ignored her, but the next day when I came to the pool for practice, I saw a little doll floating face-down in the water. She kinda looked like me, and she even had on the swim suit I was wearing! When I fished her out of the pool, she had words scribbled across her chest in blood red. They were soggy and runny, but I could still read them."

"What did they say?" Tylee loved a good horror story every now and then.

Jin looked down. "They said _VOODOO: You better watch you're back, because you know how it works_. And I swear the doll looked just like me!"

"So, you're sure you're not TML?" On Ji asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure..." Jin trailed off, obviously remembering something. Then she shuddered, apparently trying to shake off the thought... whatever it was.

"Do you smell something?" Suddenly she was sniffing around.

Meng went over to the door of On Ji's bright bedroom, where smoke was seeping through the cracks. "Oh my God!"

"What is it?" Tylee jumped up.

"Guys, this place is on fire!" Meng was screaming now. "We're going to burn!"

* * *

**A/N: OH NOZ! On Ji's house is on fire! Will the girl's make it out before they get burned? And who do you think is behind it? REVIEW!**

**~Rosey :)**


	12. Pitch

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Pitch**

"What do we do? What do we do?" Meng was having a meltdown.

"First of all, don't panick," Azula said.

Jin scoffed. "Yeah, like you know everything because you've put out _so _many fires before."

"Actually, I have." Azula said, thinking back to previous mysteries she'd solved.

"What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?!" Meng kept screaming.

"The window!" Tylee scurried over to the closed window in On Ji's room.

On Ji shook her head. "Don't, it won't open. I used to try to climb out of the window as a child so my dad put locks on it!"

"Damn!" Tylee muttered the word she had never said in the presence of anyone except herself.

"There's gotta be a way out!" Jin said.

"Does the door feel too hot?" Azula asked Yue, who, at this moment, was hte one standing closest to it.

Yue put her hand on the door, and then quickly yanked it back. "It's heating up!"

As if she'd just realized it's existance, Tylee started to choke on the smoke that was now filling the room.

"It's coming through the door!" Yue shrieked. And to everyone's horror, she was right. The fire was slowly coming under the door and burning the bottom of it in the proccess.

"Get something to break the window!" Azula ordered.

Tylee and Jin obeyed, running through On Ji's room to find something har enough the break the window.

"Here," On Ji was suddenly giving the two girls brooms. "My mom tells me to keep these in here, and I thought it was stupid until now."

Jin and Tylee took the brooms, turned them upside down, and began to hit the window with them.

"The fire's coming!" Yue ran to the other side of the room, opposite of the flames that were slowly creeping across the floor.

"We're trying!" Jin said between the thumping sounds of trying to break the glass.

Meng was sobbing, way past the point of comfort, into her hands. "We're going to burn!" Was the new sentence she preffered to repeat.

"Hurry!" Yue screamed.

"Hit it harder!" Azula ordered. Jin and Tylee climbed onto the window seat to do so, and the remaining girls climbed up onto the bed, since the flames were well on their way to almost covering the floor.

"I can't see anything," On Ji was saying. Her words were muffled by the noise of the fire.

Suddenly, their was a cracking sound, and the flames grew bigger. All the girls, including Azula, screamed.

"We're gonna die!" On Ji yelled loud enough for all to here.

Meng was in oblivion. She couldn't see anything for the smoke, everything anyone said was muffled by the scream of the fire, the colors blended as her sight blurred. The last thing she heard was On Ji telling her that she was going to die.

Meng fainted.

Azula caught her just before she fell into the flames. "She passed out!" She called to the girls nearby that could actually see her.

"Hurry!" Yue screamed.

Then there was another cracking sound. The sound of glass breaking. "I can see the roof of the side porch!" Jin said happily.

"Okay, let's go!" Azula said hurriedly.

"Don't we need a sheet of something to slide down?" Jin asked.

"There's no time!" On Ji uttered the words for her.

Tylee was already out on the roof of the side porch, slowly making her way down the the edge to jump off. Jin followed close behind.

Meng's eyes fluttered open as Yue climbed out of the window.

"Meng, we found a way out, you have to be able to stand to come with us." Azula told her firmly.

"No," Meng seemed dazed. "Just leave without me... I'll be okay."

"No!" On Ji said urgently. "Bring her! She doesn't know what she's saying!"

Yue was climbing out of the window now.

Azula and On Ji were able to get a disoriented Meng on her feet. Meng seemed more enthusiastic about getting out of the house as she came out of the smoke and faced the window.

"You go first," She told them.

Azula climbed out of the window into the cool, crisp, unpolluted evening air. Jin was just jumping off the side porch roof after Tylee just now, as On Ji followed her out.

"Come on, Meng!" On Ji reached for the girl. "Take my hand."

Meng obeyed, grabbing On Ji's handed and straining up to the window, but somehow she had misplaced her foot, and she fell back out of the window-seat, smoke covering her existance.

"Meng?" On Ji was calling now. "MENG? Where are you?!"

"Leave her!" Azula called from the edge of the roof.

On Ji shook her head. "I can't just _leave_ her."

"I hear sirens down the street," Azula persisted. "The fireman will come and get her out. Come, On Ji."

Only because of that assurance, did On Ji jump down from the roof that night.

At the bottom, on the lawn of the Fare's house, the girls stumbled around like the five luckiest survivors in history.

"Oh God!" On Ji shrieked as the firetrucks came to a halt. The girls followed her gaze to where her house was burning to the ground.

_Poor On Ji,_ They all thought, _What'll happen to her?_

Medics suddenly surrounded the group, asking questions and checking all over them.

"Meng!" On Ji was saying to the medic beside her. "_I'm_ fine. But Meng's still int here, you have to help her!"

Azula watched what was happening all around her dazedly, just like Meng. She wondered if the girl was alright.

Then, the starless sky closed in on her, and everything went black as pitch.

* * *

**A/N: All the girls are safe and sound... except for Meng. What do you think will happen to her? I've pretty much been winging this story since chapter four, so I would like to hear your opinion about that. There's only three chapters left to do! Dun Dun DUN! How do you feel about that? REVIEW!**

**~Rosey :)**


	13. Alone

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Alone**

Azula opened her eyes; the rest of The Clue surrounded her, gazing in on her with anticipation.

"She's awake!" Tylee sang.

Azula looked around. She was lying in her own bed, covered in all the blankets in the house, probably. She closed her eyes again, and suddenly it all clicked.

Study group. Boardgame. Clue. The Missing Link. Fire. Smoke. Jin. Tylee. On Ji. Yue. Meng. _Meng_.

"What the hell happened?!" Azula shot up in bed. "Is Meng alright?"

Zuko nodded. "She's fine. Just a few second-degree burns. She'll be alright."

"You got burned, too," Tylee said in her usual cheerful voice. "But you didn't get it as bad as her."

Azula looked up to Tylee's face. She had a small burned-in crease on each cheek. They matched. Like twins to each other, and pink, like her outfit. Azula sighed; Tylee could make anything, work with her clothes.

"I can't believe we missed all the action!" Zuko was saying.

Azula smirked. "We'll take you with us next time."

"The hell you will!" Jet boomed. "I'm not missing the _next _fire!"

She grimaced when he said _next_. "What didyou guys do all that time?"

"We'll tell you later," Mai answered. "When you're at the least risk to go into shock."

Tylee giggled. Azula _hated_ to be kept out of things.

"So, Tylee told us the case isn't solvd yet." Mai prompted the convo.

Azula rememebered. "Oh, yes, she was right. Turns out that Jin _isn't _TML."

"What?" Zuko sputtered. "But she fits the profile! The dark hair, the nail polish, the clothes, and she even has a motive!"

"I thought you said Tylee told you," She sighed. "Jin was in on it, but she wasn't the matsrmind behind it."

"Poor Katara, she's really freaking out." Tylee pouted. "I just called her and told her about the fire. She said the same thing happened to her."

Jet's eyes widened. "They set her house on fire, too?"

"Yeah, but it didn't get as bad as On Ji's," She went on. "Sokka saw the fire from the hallway and put it out before it got really serious. Katara's still having hysterics, though."

Mai groaned dramatically. "I wish this thing was over with. We've been on it for weeks!"

"We'll finish it, pronto." Azula said. "We'll go out today."

"Are you okay to get up?" Jet said cautiously.

_What are they talking about?_ She wondered. "I'm fine." She moved a bit to get the blankets off of her, and met with a scorching pain. Lifting her arms, she discovered long red creases on them, ones like Tylee, but much deeper. Her arms still ached from the sudden lurch of pain that had surged through her. Her eyes suddenly glazed over as she remembered

Flash back: _Azula caught her just before she could fall into the flames. "She passed out!" She called to the girls nearby that could actually hear her._

_Oh! _She thought. _When I reached down to grab Meng, I must have burned my arms! _Looking under the covers, she saw the red creases on her legs, too. But not as many.

Flash Back: _And the remaining girls climbed up onto the bed, since the flames were well on their way to almost covering the whole floor._

_That must've been when I burned my legs! _Azula conluded in defeat.

"Yeah..." Jet answered her thoughts. "Maybe you should sit this one out, babe."

"But I wanna go!" Azula began to sound like a child.

Jet sat on the bed at her side. "I'll stay with you."

"Thanks." Azula said suspiciously. Jet was being awfully sweet. What _had_ he done with Zuko and Mai while On Ji's house was burning? Maybe he was trying to make up for it early. This somehow amused her.

"What are you smiling at?" Tylee asked.

Azula shrugged. "Everything."

"Let's get out of here before she starts picking daffodills and singing, too." Mai said hurriedly.

"Agreed," Zuko and Tylee nodded. Then the three bounded out of Azula's room, as if their lives depended on it.

"How much trouble do you think they'll get in?" Jet asked once they were gone.

Azula groaned. "I hadn't even thought of that..."

"Relax, I was just joking," He calmed her. "Tylee will keep Zuko and Mai from straying."

"It's hard to think of Tylee as the responsible one." She admitted.

Jet laughed and fell back into the bed beside her. "It's not that she's responsible as much as she wants to get this case over with."

"True. I think we all do." Azula made an attempted to shift her position, and then cried out in pain.

"Are you alright?" He suddenly sounded concerned.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"That's what you said the first time." Jet chuckled.

Azula sighed, and he bent down to kiss her. The kiss was warm and soft, but it still made her gasp into his mouth on contact. That was the constant thrill of their relationship. Always surprising each other.

She stiffened when Jet touched her arm.

"Sorry," He said as they broke apart.

"It's okay," She smirked. "I hope you didn't mess up up my recovery, though."

"The burns do have their benefits." He almost whispered.

Azula pulled away. "And what, exactly, are those?"

"This." He guestered to the air around them. "_You_. Getting to be alone together. Those are the benefits."

"Alone," She repeated, almost dazed. "With no intruding Tylee's or noisy Mai and Zuko's..."

"See?" Jet nodded. She _did_ see.

And then he kiss her again. They were alone.

* * *

**A/N: I tried to give everyone a feel of what Jet and Azula's relationship was like. Just like I had with Zuko and Mai in the McDonald's. Just little things to let people know that they DO like each other, you know. We are, like, super close to solving the mystery! So pile up those REVIEWS!**

**~Rosey :)**


	14. Click

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Click**

"It was so horrible!" Katara sobbed. "To think that The Missing Link was _that _close!"

"Who was with you when the fire started?" Zuko asked.

Katara sniffled. "Um, my dad was out working, so it was just Toph, Suki and I. Sokka was in his room."

"Hmmm," Tylee murmured.

"You don't think....!" Katara sounded horrified as she continued to cry. "I know Toph, Suki, and Sokka would _never _do that to me!"

"It's just a possibility." Zuko said. "We tought we had our criminal at one point."

Katara snapped up. "Really? Who?"

"We thought for sure that it had been Jin Brown, but we were wrong." Mai answered.

"Do you know if she was involved?" Katara asked.

Zuko shook his head. "We're not supposed to tell you who was _involved_, but when we catch the culprit, you'll be the second to know."

"Oh," Katara nodded, then she straightened again. "Second?"

"We'd have to tell my sister first."

"Of course," She blushed. "I should've known."

_Wow, she's really jumping emotions_, Tylee reached outto put her hand on Katara's. "You'll be fine."

'Lips Like Sugar' blasted from Katara's cellphone. She ruefully picked it up and told Tylee, Mai, and Zuko to hold on. With a terrified shriek, she slammed the phone down on her computer table and fled from the room.

"I guess _I'll _read it," Mai said, predicting her placement from Tylee's pouty expression, and Zuko's fear of emotional outbursts.

When Mai picked up the phone, her eyes widened.

_To: Katara Whiteman  
Cc: The Missing Link_

_TML _knows_._

Along with the two forboding words came an attached picture; one that looked like it was taken just a few seconds ago. Once of Zuko, Mai, Tylee, and Katara gathered around in her bedroom. Obviously taken from the _inside _of the house....

Mai was shaken from her thoughts when Tylee kicked the door open.

"What'd you do that for?" Zuko asked. "It wasn't _locked_!"

Tylee had the most horrified look on her face. "Somone was out in the hallway staring as us, I swear."

"So what does that mean? It could've just been Katara or Sokka." Mai said calmly.

"I know what I saw!" Tylee screeched. "And it wasn't one of the Whitemans!"

Zuko shook his head. "Who else would be in here, Tylee? Get a grip."

"Dammit, Zuko! I _know _what I saw!" Tylee ran from the room just like Katara had, but instead of sobbing her way out, she looked like she was trying to remember something.

"She seems really freaked out." Mai said.

Zuko nodded. "Even more than Katara."

"Should we go after her?"

"That would be best."

Mai put Katara's cellphone back on the computer table and left the room with Zuko. Once outside, the two found Tylee already in the backseat of the BMW, furiously waiting for them.

"Well?" She sounded impatient as Zuko and Mai got into the car.

Zuko waned to ask how she got inside without the key, to change the subject, but he already knew how, and it would just make Tylee even more angry. She was a master at picking locks; fixing and taking apart things that involved metal or engines was her specialty.

"Well?!" Tylee's grey irises flashed with anger.

"Well what?" Mai made the first mistake.

"Where are we going, dammit?" Tylee asked. "That's well what!"

Zuko sighed. "Calm down Tylee, why are you so angry?"

"Because I _know _I saw someone, Zuko. And you made me let them get away!" Tylee answered, irritated. "It was The Missing Link for sure!"

"Of course it was," Mai said.

Tylee scowled. "You don't believe me."

"No, I don't."

Zuko drove them to the coffee house.

"Alright," He said as they sat down. "This question hasn't been asked since we were Junior-high detectives, but... who -do you think- dun it?"

Mai sighed. "I don't know... I was thinking that maybe it was Jin, but..."

Tylee slammed her fist on the table.

"What is it, now?" Zuko groaned.

"Coffee!" She whispered urgently, getting up from the table and heading for the checkout counter.

"Oh, that's right," Mai rolled her eyes. "Tylee hasn't had her daily cup of coffee. That's why she's being so wierd! You can't talk to Tylee until she's had her coffee."

"You can't talk to her _after _she's had her coffee, either." Zuko said.

Mai smiled and stood. "Let's go get, some too."

"We might as well."

Then went to join Tylee at the counter just as she was recieving the piping hot cup of caffiene. "Hi, guys!" She sipped from the cup contentedly.

Zuko rolled his eyes and looked at the overhead menu. "I'll have whatever she's getting." He jerked his head in Mai's direction.

"You like strawberry frappichinos?" Mai asked him.

He sighed. "Are they that different from strawberry milkshakes?" He rememered that day at the McDonald's.

"Not much." Mai answered, then ordered.

"You know what I've realized, guys?" Tylee asked.

Zuko smirked. "No, Tylee, what've you realized?"

"We never interviewed Aang."

"That's too bad," Zuko shook his head in faux tragedy. "He was such a good kid!" To which Tylee giggled.

"Aang Gyatso?" The young teenaged boy at the checkout counter asked. "I've seen him coming through here with his girlfriend sometimes."

"Yeah?" Mai looked up.

He nodded and handed her two strawberry frappuchinos. "She's kinda short, with dark hair. Always has on her iPod."

Then, for all three present members of The Clue, it just clicked.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter is the last. Be quick! Tell me who you think the culprit is. REVIEW!**

**~Rosey :)**


	15. Rescue

**Azula**

**In**

**THE MISSING LINK**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Rescue**

Azula and Jet were interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door.

"Damn!" Azula hissed.

"We'll pick back up later." Jet chuckled.

The two started to put their clothes back on, Azula straining because of the burns. However, that hadn't stopped her previously, for her natural teenage instincts outweighed physical pain by far.

"Come in!" She called when they were done.

"I always knock first," Zuko said as he, Mai, and Tylee entered the room. "Ever since that one time..."

"We got it!" Azula hissed. "It's not like you and Mai don't go at it sometimes."

This sent Mai into to a surprising shade of red.

"We know who it is! We know who it is!" Tylee sang while doing her happy-dance.

"What is she talking about?" Jet asked.

Mai's face hadn't recovered quite just yet, so Zuko answered. "We know who The Missing Link is."

"Who?" Azula asked, suddenly interested.

Zuko reached up on the top shelf of Azula's dresser and pulled down her laptop. "First, we need to check."

Everyone watched as he went to FaceBook, then straight to TML's page. With the slightest hesistation, he began typing letters and numbers into the empty URL at the top of the screen.

"Ready?" He asked.

There was a conjoined nod, so he lightly pressed the _search_ button.

Azula almost gasped; there, on the screen, was Toph Beifong's picture. "H-how did you know?" She asked her brother.

"It's the bar code on the back of her iPod." He answered.

Mai rolled her eyes. "He's got a photographic-memory."

"Amazing." Jet breathed.

"So... now that we know...?" Tylee's excitment was momentarily building inside of her.

"We need to get to Toph's house," Azula nodded, and Tylee let out one of her horrific ear-piercing squeals.

"What do you mean _we_?" Mai questioned. "You can't go, remeber?"

Zuko sighed. "I think she's had enough physical-therapy to get her going."

Azula's face turned even redder than Mai's had.

"But Mai's right," Jet said. "Azula should stay."

"And I suppose you'd like to stay with her?"

"That'd be ideal."

"Let's go," Zuko stood, beckoning Mai and Tylee. "Again."

Mai groaned. "Oh, alright."

**---**

Mai knocked on Toph's bedroom door, a bit smug.

"Hold on!" Came the girl's voice from inside.

This would be the second door Tylee had kicked open that day. once The Clue was inside, they froze with shock.

The sight was one to behold; Toph in her bra and underwear, Aang on the bed in only his boxers. Mai covered Zuko's eyes.

Toph snatched up the sheets to cover herself. "Shit! What do _you _want?!"

"Hmmm," Zuko said once he could see again. "I was expecting the usually _this is not what it looks like_, but four-letter-sentences are exceptable."

"So what? Aang's a cheater," Toph said. "Go tell Katara, he'll choose me anyway."

Mai shrugged. "Maybe, but that's not why we're here."

"We know you're The Missing Link!" Tylee sang joyfully.

Toph stiffened, clutching the sheets with her blue painted fingernails. "W-what?"

"It all makes sense!" Tylee said. "Everything falls into place."

"Why, though?" Mai asked.

Toph shrugged. "It was fun when it was just me making fun of her, but then it got boring, so I recruited other people to do it for me."

"She was you're friend." Zuko stated blankly.

"Yeah, at first she was," Toph continued. "But then she just became an obstacle I had to defeat."

"So this is you're idea of defeat?" Zuko asked, remembering all the times Katara had ebbed out her story between muffled sobbs.

"It's not a game, Toph," Mai informed her. "You almost killed people."

Toph's eyes widened. "What? _Killed _people? Maybe I threatened to, but"-

"Don't pretend," Tylee sighed. "You know you set that house on fire. I was _there_." She pointed dramatically to the twin scars on her face. "And now On Ji and her family are homeless, or at least houseless."

"Whatever," Toph said.

"Wait," Aang had been so quiet that it startled the group when he began to speak. "Toph, you mean _you're _the person who was doing those things to Katara?"

"You didn't know?" Mai turned to him.

Aang's fearful eyes closed and he shook his head. "I didn't- I mean, I wouldn't have.... Toph wouldn't _be here _if I'd known what she'd been doing."

"Yeah, like you care about her!" Toph scoffed. "You're just as cruel and heartless as I am."

**---**

It all happened very fast. Catching Toph, talking to Aang, telling Katara.

"I thought you were my friend!" She had almost whispered to Toph.

"God! Get out Aang, and burn in hell!" She had screamed at Aang.

Toph was charged with blackmail by Meng, Yue, On Ji, and Jin; and also charged with attempted murder, even though she swore that she never set anything on fire except birthday candles. It was still in deciding whether Toph should go to jail or not.

Back and the Sozin's mansion. Everyone was crowded in Azula's room eating cake, laughing, and drinking ginger-ale.

"A toast to The Clue!" Zuko had said. "Bottoms up!"

"God, I can't believe we actually solved the mystery!" Tylee giggled. "Wonder when the next one'll come around."

"Hey!" Azula shrieked.

All four teenagers turned. "What is it?" Jet asked.

Azula turned her laptop around so everyone could see.

_Oops! _The screen read. _Your FaceBook account has been shut down do to improper use and too many reports. Sorry._

"Wonder what that's all about."

Suddenly, Azula's cellphone beeped, she picked it up curiously, wanting to see who'd texted her just now.

_To: Azula Hammil  
Cc: THE CHAIN_

_Sorry about ur FaceBook. I jst hrd. It's 2 bad tht u'll never b able 2 get anothr 1. U won't liv tht long, N E way. Enjoy ur life wile u can, cuz it jst got so much hardr._

"Guys..." Azula almost whispered. "Looks like we got another mystery on our hands."

"God! When does it _end_?" Mai groaned.

"Azula and The Clue to the rescue." Zuko said monotonously.

**To Be Continued...**

**

* * *

A/N: YAY I'm done! And now for a few FAQs I get through PMs daily about this story. Before you go off screaming 'Oh no, the fic is over! My life is ruined for all time!' I must remind you lazy minxes (;3) that this is a trioligy... meaning that there will be two more story that follow after this one. And, as I've loved to do, I must give credits to 'Hanna' and 'Twirl' and 'doctor14force' for figuring out the mystery before anyone else did. I'm much thankful to you guys for that. and to everyone else, thank you for reading!**

**I swear on the Bible that _Azula and The Clue: BREAK THE CHAIN_ will be out faster than you can say sausage in German the correct way.**

**Write on,  
~Rosey :)**


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